sheathing spec. is 3/4″….absolutely no access to help to stock or install…15′ off ground.
i’m sort of thinking about ripping sheathing down to 2×8 then humping that up. you think there would be any loss in strength?
any other suggestions on how to easily perform this worthy task.
Replies
Hook a clamp onto each piece and drag it up behind you on the ladder or use a rope. They have some very inexpensive winches available on the web. You could set up the winch at the ridge.
Read "Working Alone".
I think ripping the 3/4" in half would kind of defeat the purpose of using 3/4".
The tip from "Working Alone" was this: Use a C clamp on the sheathing - clamp it on and use that as the handle while you are climbing the ladder. I'm also a big fan of those plastic 1' long orange hooks that extend your reach for carrying sheet goods... they allow you to carry sheet goods much more comfortably and securely.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
The C-clamp idea from "Working Alone" is the stuff. I just did it with 3/4" Advantech Thursday - works perfectly always.
Forrest
The lazy old man answer - two layers of 3/8 inch sheathing - installed at right angles to each other. It made a really sturdy roof!
Why at right angles?
Staggered seams woulda been fine.
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Holidays
the shop was built before Breaktime came along so I didn't know any better <grin>!
But, it is still just as sturdy (and overbuilt) as ever.
since that puts one sheet with two plies opposite to the strength axis, it would be barely stronger than one sheet of 1.2"
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Maybe in some ways it isn't stronger than 1/2", but it sure felt a lot more solid than 1/2" while I was up there putting the shingles on.The stiffness is less about which direction the plys go than how far apart the inner and outer plys are and how well they are fastened together. In my case, the two layers were glued together, and everything held down with plenty of screws into the rafters. Like I said - WAY overbuilt.
Now if you had only used Piffin screws...LOL
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I sheathed my chicken house with 1 layer of 3/8. Pretty bouncy underfoot, but the chickens don't give a sh#t. Well, you know what I mean.
Hi moonhill,
I just finished 50 sheets of 1/2" advantech roof sheathing (53 lbs. ea.) on a 12/12,(solo) the peak is approx. 25' above grade on 1 side.
I used 2 pair of step-over visegrips (they are shaped like a C clamp) ... A snatch-block (or some kind of pully) & a long 5/8" rope.
Clamp the pully @ the ridge & use the other clamp on the sheathing about mid-span.
Then i stood on the 2nd. Floor & pulled them (1 @ a time) in place.
Moving the pully & clamp every couple of sheets.
PS: if you go this route, get the step-over visegrips without the swivel ends, the standard ones dig-in, thus less slipping......& ...also clamp them real tight
....also when you tie the rope to the clamp @ the sheathing,... safety loop the rope around visegrip handles so-as it will keep the handle cinched closed as your pulling
paul
I second the clamp idea mentioned by Sasquatch. I just used it on my most recent project and it was extraordinarily helpful. I saw it on the cover of "Working Alone", which is on my list of books to purchase.
Adam
This is not any answer, but can you check with the Architect about 3/4" being specked and see if that was a mistake? I've never seen 3/4" on a roof before. One time it was on a set plans and I called up the Architect and it was a mistake.
>>>>>>>>>>can you check with the Architect about 3/4" being specked and see if that was a mistake? I sometimes see it when tile or slate is spec'd.http://logancustomcopper.com
http://grantlogan.net/
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Moonhill Woodworks?
I'd like to know how you are posting these questions under my user name and why I'm getting e-mail notifications of replies. This sounds like you conjouring up some sort of identity theft scam.
Prospero occasionally screws identities up. Contact sysop - I doubt that there is a way that the other respondent here has intentionally done anything wrong
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Don't rip it. It will definitely not be as strong as what was specked especially if it is t&g. I second the idea of checking with whoever specified the 3/4". 3/4 OSB is ~80# per sheet.
Really though, you should get some help. Sorry, but it would be the intelligent thing to do. Much cheaper than letting one get away from you on the roof and knocking you off for an injury. If not, be careful up there. What is the roof pitch?
I suspect that ripping in half will provide a suitable roof.
Certainly 12" boards have proved sufficient.
I've used the C-clamp method. But if the sheet is thicker than 1/2" the c-clamp doesn't work so well for me. I'm a weakling.
I have had a lot of success pushing the plywood up the ladder ahead of me and then lowering it over the top of the ladder onto the roof.
I usually pull the ladder out farther than usual and anchor the foot of the ladder (usually by driving a couple of two foot pieces of rebar into the ground in front of the bottom rung), tie it at the gutter, and make sure the top is far enough above the eave so most of the plywood will be on the roof side of the ladder after it goes over.
The ladder also needs to be high so there is room for you to get to the roof despite the plywood laying on top.
This doesn't work so well in a strong wind.
Rich Beckman
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Could your supplier lift it to the peak for you, where you would have staging built to lay it on at the peak. Then, using ropes and clamps, if necessary, you could lower the sheet to the approx. location, slide it to where it goes, and nail it off.
Or, if you can get under the sheet ok, then you could of course slide it to where you needed it, and then nail it off.
Bryan
"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio
Sometimes it's easier if solo to get the sheets to the roof from inside the walls. An option?
The cost of plywood has come down so going with cdx would cut down on some weight.
I'm a big fan of c-clamps or something similar that is a good handle or place to tie rope.
One pulley would reduce the amount you have to pull by half. Place some scabbed together 2x's to serve as a ramp of sorts will prevent the sheets from hanging up as you pull the sheets up.
I'd pull the sheets up next to a temp. platform to stack them on, or simply pull them up and place the sheets one at a time to mix up the muscles you're using.
Placing some saw horses next to the house allows you to stand the sheets on edge and be close to 3' higher than putting them back on the ground. 3' is 20% of your total height. At the end of the roof a 20% reduction will feel huge!
If you don't mind renting scaffolding you can pass the sheets up from one level to the next fairly easily. Much safer than many of the options and you'll have a safe area while working near the edge.
Happy Holidays!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I lean a pair of 2x4's about 3 feet apart against the fascia, anchored so they don't slide sideways and place another 4 foot 2x4 horizontally at or above head height forming an "H". You can adjust this initial height so it's comfortable for the next step.
Slide the 4x8 sheet of ply or OSB up to rest on the cross piece and then go up to the plate and pull it the rest of the way up. The 4 foot edge rests on the crosspiece.
That's a great idea.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Ralphs system is the same idea we use with ladder racks. In my apprentice days, we built and carried plywood racks from job to job. Later, I used my ladders as the "2x4's" and pushed a long 2 x12 through the rung at an appropriate height. The ladder system sets up in seconds with no nailing. 90% of the time, we can load up to 13' height with no ramp. The laborer just has to be able to fully extend the sheet, while it rides up the ladder rungs and plops down onto the projected 2x12 which acts as the shelf. Most guys can easily reach 7' and the plywwood is 8'. It helps to be sticking up about 3' past the roof...not too far, not too short. 4' is tippy and doesn't allow a dead lift straight up and over. 3' does. The height of the plywood over the roof is critical in the decision on how to pull it up.
blue
Don,I recently finished framing a small addtion and used a plywood rack to get it to the roof,
only about 12' up.The thread number is 79773.50Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
15' aint that bad.
You got a second story deck to work off from the inside?
If not, there's still hope. We probably would build our normal ladder rack, setting the bottom of the plywood rack at about 9', then run a ramp up about three feet. The ramp needs to be long enough to be a gentle slope up to that third rung, but also be stable enough to eliminate any bounce.
We'd load a ramp and rack like that as fast and as normal as if it was 8' instead of 15'.
blue
Edit: Anyone on our crew would/could do this as a solo act. We stage about six to eight sheets max on a set up like this. We did it all the time, never gave it a second thought. You willl need two ladders though...one is the plywood rack and the other allows you to get up on the roof, after you've staged the plywood and pull it up to lay it.
Edited 12/19/2006 12:41 am ET by blue_eyed_devil
Use tongue and groove 1x6 roofers if they are available.Lots more nails ,easy to install though. Working alone I can sheath a roof almost as fast with roofers as with plywood. Mostly because I'm not killing myself trying to handle 4x8 sheets 18-0 off the ground.
mike
Whats the cost differential on the materials.
With my method, there really isn't any time difference for staging a 8', 10' or a 15' roof. We do have to have the physical strength to haul the sheet from the rack, which is dangerous to the lower back if the worker doesn't get his feet in the correct position. Even old guys like me can grab them, as long as I think the entire lift through.
blue
I haven't used roofers for several years,they used to cost about 15% more than 3/4"cdx.When sheathing a hip or valley , using roofers actually is cheaper than cdx because of less waste.
mike
thanks for all the helpful tips.
spec was 3/4" due to concrete roof tile w/ 24 o.c. rafter.
Knock a small staging scaffold together half way up. transfer 5 or6 sheets up to the scaffold first then move them up to the roof.
I used the C-clamp trick along with a steel hook tied to the end of a rope. I'd put clamps on four sheets (all the clamps I had on site), hang the hook on one, climb to the roof and pull it up, then fish with the hook for the other three. It saved some ladder climbing, but probably not much time as I wasn't too good at the fishing part. I also rigged an extra fall protection rope grab to hold the line and make it real easy to get a new grab on the rope.
-- J.S.